Hey that poll has been up forever! WTF!!!!

Sorry but I was too busy. Anyway the results of the "What you won't eat poll" is predictable. Sarah Jessica Horseface won again! The results:

Sarah Jessica Parker 16
Rocky Mountain Oysters 5
Pickled Pigs Feet 5
Roast Guinea Pig 3
Liver and Onions 1

So that's that!

Hey let's start some trouble with our next poll!

Yeah that's the ticket.

This Spuds for You!

Ok our new poll involves the thing that goes best with beer.

Potatoe's.

Your choices:

Baked

French Fried

Mashed

Scalloped

Mr. Potato Head.

Cool beans....and Potato!!!!!!

3 lbs string beans
10 large red potatoes
Pecorino red pepper flakes
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
1/3 cup red wine vinegar

A simple and delicious salad is one my grandma used to make. It is the essence of simple peasant cooking.

Simply clean the strings by snapping them in two and removing any stray stems. Wash them off and put in boiling water for about 8 minutes so the strings get sort of cooked but be sure to take them out before they get mushy. Take out and drain the water away. Put the string beans in a metal bowl and add the olive oil and smush it around to get oil all over everything. Cover with foil as it will cook a little longer.

Put the potatoes in boiling water and cook until soft about twenty minutes or so. Test them by putting a fork in them. If you can push it right in without resistance then they are done. Take them out of the water and let them cool. When they are cool enough to handle but way before they start to turn black, just peel off the skins which are very loose and easy to take off. Cut the potato into little triangular pieces 1 ½ inches on each side. Then add it to the string beans.

Take a big wooden spoon and mix them all together without smushing them too much. Add the red wine vinegar. Liberally sprinkle in the pecorino red pepper flakes and salt to taste. Chill in the refrigerator before serving.

Like revenge, it is a dish best eaten cold.

Salud.

Our pasta bowl is almost tied. Cool!

Hey the pasta bowl is almost tied. It is neck and neck between my two favorites ravioli and maniccotti. I guess that is only because I didn't express a preference. Anyway here is a quick spinach manicotti reciep from the Food Network website.

Ingredients
12 ounces of Ricotta
1 egg
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
1 package frozen spinach, thawed
Salt
8 crepes
3 cups tomato sauce

Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In bowl combine Ricotta, eggs and half of the Parmesan cheese. Drain spinach and squeeze out remaining water. Add to cheese mixture. Stir to blend. Season with salt and pepper. Take a crepe and top with 3 or 4 tablespoons of cheese and spinach mixture. Roll up. Fill and roll up remaining crepes. In a baking dish spread sauce evenly along bottom. Place stuffed crepes in baking dish. Top with more sauce and Parmesan. Bake for 30 minutes, until bubbly. Serve.

Check out Dust Bunny Queens Pasta dish.

Dust Bunny Queen was nice enough to post a recipe for PASTA PUTTANESCA on her great blog Recipe Junkie.

2 or 3 large tomatoes *seeded and coarsely chopped
2 tbsp capers crushed
1/2 tsp crushed red chili flakes
1/4 cup chopped fresh italian parsley
1/2 cup chopped calamata olives
1 small tin of anchovies in oil
1 tbsp olive oil
4 cloves garlic minced
1/2 pound linguine
fresh Parmesan or asiago cheese

In a medium sauce pan over low heat saute the garlic anchovies in the olive oil. Don't over cook, just smoosh the ancovies and garlic and oil around to make a paste and to release all the yummy flavors. Add the chopped tomatoes, capers, chili flakes, olives and simmer on low for about 10 to 15 minutes, stiring occaisonally.

Meanwhile. Cook the linguini to al dente in a large pan that has been salted with about 1 tbsp kosher salt.

Drain the pasta. Pour the sauce over the pasta and toss in the Italian Parsley (bet you thought I forgot about it, didn't you?). Mix the linguine with the sauce and parsley.
Top each serving with a bit of shaved Parmesan or Asiago cheese.
Serve with a green salad, fruit (cantaloupes are really good right now), crusty french bread .....oh and of course a good wine.

My husband hated the Kalamata Olives. He thought they were too salty with the anchovies so you might substitute milder ripe olives. For those of you who don't like hot/spicy dishes you can also lighten up on the chili flakes (weenies). I also like this sauce over Farfalle pasta. Soon, I plan to try it with a mixture of yellow and red tomatoes from my garden.

* to seed tomatoes: cut the tomato in half crossways and simply squeeze the seeds and juices into a bowl. You want as much of the juice removed from the tomatoes or else your sauce will be watery and you will have to cook it much longer which will ruin the delicate flavor of the capers.

You have to check out some of the recipes in the archives. I have made several of them and they are easy to follow and very tasty.

"Salsa alle Vongole con Broccoli" from Lidia.

Here is a great recipe for Linguine with white clam sauce with Broccoli from Lidia's Italy!

Enjoy Basta!

Serves 6

Salt

3 cups broccoli florets

36 littleneck clams

1 pound linguine

1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

6 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced

1/2 teaspoon crushed hot red pepper

1/4 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley

Cook the broccoli in a large saucepan of boiling salted water just until it is softened a little bit, about 2 minutes. Drain it well and cool under cold running water. Drain completely, then chop the broccoli coarsely.Scrub and shuck the clams, reserving the liquid. Strain the liquid, chop the clams, and combine them with the liquid. Bring 6 quarts of salted water to a boil in an 8-quart pot over high heat. Stir the linguine into the boiling water. Return to a boil, stirring frequently.

Cook the pasta, semi-covered, stirring occasionally, until not quite done al dente, about 6 minutes. Meanwhile, heat 1/4 cup of the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.

Scatter the garlic over the oil and cook, shaking the pan, until golden, about 2 minutes. Add the blanched broccoli and crushed red pepper ad cook until the broccoli is sizzling, about 2 minutes.
Pour in the clams and their liquid and bring to a boil. Ladle about 1/2 cup of pasta-cooking water into the skillet. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat so the sauce is at a lively simmer.

Cook until the broccoli is tender, about 4 minutes.If the skillet is large enough to accommodate the sauce and pasta, fish the pasta out of the boiling water with a large wire skimmer and drop it directly into the sauce in the skillet. If not, drain the pasta, return it to the pot, and pour in the sauce. Bring the sauce and pasta to a boil, stir in the parsley, and check the seasoning, adding salt and pepper.

Serve to your hungry guests.

Hey it's time for pasta!

So it’s time to get to what is your favorite pasta. We will be doing a lot of recipes over the next couple of days but think of the pasta in your favorite sauce or dish if you want to vote for it. The choices.

Ravioli. It could be cheese or meat or mushroom or even pumpkin. Your choice.

Ziti. Baked or otherwise.

Fettuccini; Alfredo is preferred but you can do what you want.

Linguini. With clam sauce or just a fresh basil tomato sauce.

Manicotti: With straight ricotta or maybe spinach you choose.

So get out your forks and start doing some research.

The game is a foot!

“Come Watson, hail us a cab, we must be off.”
“Straight away Holmes” I went and hailed us a hansom and as we settled in and I asked
“Where are we going?”
“To the Diogenes Club, I have an urgent summons from my brother.”
It must have been truly a matter of life and death if Mycroft Holmes had bestirred himself and contacted his brother for aid.
We arrived at the club and were ushered into a private dining room where the corpulent capitalist was enjoying a small repast of a steak, potato, and a roast turkey.
“Come in, come in and sit down. I trust you are well” said the rotund raconteur.
“Never mind the pleastries brother” snapped Holmes “Why have you summoned me.”
“Well I am afraid she is back. And she has combined forces with your old enemy Moriarty.”
“No, not she who can not be named.” I shuddered.
“Yes Watson, why did you think I am leaving pursuits of my teaching of art to winsome young lads and dabbling in the perfume trade. I felt I had to warn you. She has already alienated the Red Headed League and destroyed the dreams of the young solicitor who had worshiped her from afar. I can only serve as a warning mechanism. But my poor utterances are dust in the wind. Only you brother can hope to stop her evil reign.”
“I think not Mycroft.” sighed the saddened detective. ”I fear for the world with two such evil masterminds working in concert.”
"Yes brother," huffed the wheezing Mycroft "I believe that fear of she who can not be named will stifle even the very comments of a free people. They live in fear."
"Say it is not so" I said."Is there no hope?"

Jeeez all the guys at Dell must of voted!

Well our favorite type of food poll is over and once again Trooper's pick lost! I think all the guys and girls at Dell took a hand. Or there are a lot of 7-11's in Arkansas or something. The results:

Indian food 54

Mexican 20

Italian 18

Chinese 6

Greek 4

How that happened I just don't know. I guess I can't telegraph my pick to influence you guys to vote against me.

Next poll up, Favorite Super Villians.

I mean seriously, who want to eat Indian crap when you can have a deep fried calzone?

You guys really want that Indian slop when you can have a deep fried ham and cheese calzone from the House of Pizza and Calzone on Union Street. What's the matter with you, eh?

Here is a delicious calzone which as I am sure you know is dough which is folded over containing ricotta, mozzarella and some ham. Now at the House of Pizza they deep fry it in oil and it is just about the best thing you ever ate in your freakin' life.

Get real. Curry my fucking ass!

I'm telling you, Apu is messing with our heads man!

How the hell is Indian food winning in our poll. I guess I let the cat out of the bag when I said I hated Indian food. Which is ironic since they probably cooked the cat to make that slop.

Let's go start voting for something else.

Stir fryed pork with scallions Trooper York Style!

I love to cook Chinese food and everyone loves when I do. I always use the freshest ingredients and obviously no MSG. The key is to have all the sauces and vinegars and spices that make the dish.

One of Lee Lee's favorites is stir fryed pork with scallions.

Ingredients:

2lbs of Pork Loin

6 cloves of garlic

1/4 cup of olive oil

8 Bunches of scallions

Hosin Sauce

Rice Wine Vinegar

Soy Sauce

Dice the garlic and put it in the wok with the olive oil. Saute until it is caramelized but make sure you don't burn it.

Now I like to use great ingredients so I don't stint when I buy meat I get the best. What I do is buy a pork loin without too much fat. Put it in the fridge until it is really chilled. Then take it out and slice it paper thin with a really freakin sharp knife. Each slice should be about the size and the thickness of a silver dollar.

Put the pork in the pan and fry it up. Make sure you slop the garlic and oil all over the place to give it some flavor. When you have browned it up, drain out the excess oil but leave just a little or add a fresh drop or three.

Now when you cut the scallions don't cut them the way you usually do. That is to say slicing from the white side down. You need to cut them in long strips about two inches. Use all of the scallion both the white and the green parts just leave off the fuzzy stuff at the bottom. Toss in the scallions and stir fry that stuff around.

Add three table spoons of rice wine vinegar and stir it around. Add in 1/2 cup of low sodium soy sauce and stir. Add two tablespoons of hosin sauce and mush it all around until you have a thick gravy.

Now you can spice it up with a 1/2 teaspoon of red pepper flakes.

Serve over white rice.

(Note the photo is of shredded pork which is just cut differently, and it is a cheaper cut of pork)